By
Arthur J Licursi
Exodus
21:5-6 And if the
servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my
children; I will not go out free: 6Then his master
shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the
door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear
through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
1 Cor.
7:20-24 Let every man abide in the same calling
wherein he was called. 21Art thou called being a
servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it
rather. 22For he that is called in the Lord, being a
servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called,
being free, is Christ's servant. 23Ye are
bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 24Brethren,
let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
2
Cor. 5:14-15 For the
love of Christ constraineth us…15And
that he died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which
died for them, and rose again.
Consider the
example and illustration we have before us in Exodus 21:2-6
above. No doubt this is that to which Paul refers when he writes 1Cor
7:20-24 and 2Cor 5:14-15. A Hebrew man in the Old Testament may
have bought and kept a servant (slave) to serve him. A bought slave
had to serve the master for six years. In the seventh year, the
slave could go free. However, if the slave said he loved his master
and preferred to not go out free, the master would bring him to the
judges and to the doorpost, where they would bore his ear through
with an awl (a piercing tool). Then the slave would serve his master
forever.
God has saved us and bought us with the blood – such that
our life is no longer our own to do with as we please – that is
our living should not be unto our self but unto the Lord. He did not
purchase us with anything corruptible, but with the precious blood
of His Son.
Many Christians
feel that they have to serve God for their conscience' sake, out of
debt – this may be somewhat true, but this is not our motive in
walking with the Lord. When we see the Lord's preciousness, we will
voluntarily and willingly consecrate ourselves to Him, just as the
slave accepted the piercing of his ear with his master’s awl. When
we tell the Lord that we are willing to be His slave, He will take
us to the door and the doorpost, and He will bore our ear through
with an awl.
You may recall
that the “doorpost” is the place where the blood of the Passover
lamb was applied (Exodus 12:7). Having seen the demonstration of
God’s love by the offering of the blood and life of His dear Son
Jesus, as the lamb, who died and shed His blood for us, we grow in
love for Him. 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he
first loved us. We have no love apart from His love first
deposited into us. Thus we first must receive His love, in receiving
the person of His Son. It is only then that we may truly love the
Lord and choose to be His slave forever. Because we now know that He
loves us so much, we are willing also to serve Him forever. In
seeing this, we then are constrained by the bands of love, we
have no choice but to declare our love for the Lord, who has
loved us, saved us and freed us!
It is after we
recognize the love and care of the Master that we willingly receive
Him as Lord of our life. The mark of our willing servant-hood is not
a physical pierced ear, but that we are bound to abide in union with
Him. In order to enjoy the fruit of our union with Him we must have
ears to hear Him, thereby we are led by His voice. Today the Lord is
so close at hand – He, as the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2a), indwells
every believer’s spirit, but only some will permit themselves to
be led by Him. Those who are led by Him, Paul tells us, are the sons
of God. Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. Otherwise, we remain
children of the lord. Jesus said all who are of the Lord do
hear Him. John 8:47 He that is of God heareth
God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of
God. This hearing and willing acceptance of His leading,
is the mark of the willing servant of the Lord; they have been made
willing and bound to the Lord as result of receiving the life and
work of the Lord, not of their own doing.
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